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Pillar of States
Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain (1996) |guardians = • The original States Guardian • martyr States guardian • Anarcrothe |token = • Anarcrothe's Scales |restored = • 7th or 8th, after Anarcrothe's death |appearances = • • • • • }} The Pillar of States is one of the nine Pillars of Nosgoth, and the second pillar from the east on the dais. Attuned to the property of States, it was preserved by various guardians before coming under the protection of the Human Guardian Anarcrothe, and was eventually sundered in the Collapse of the Pillars following his death. Its pillar token was Anarcrothe's Scales. The Pillar appears throughout the entirety of the Legacy of Kain series. Role As one of the Pillars of Nosgoth, the Pillar of States appeared throughout the Legacy of Kain series, debuting in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. The Pillar was present along with its peers in the [[Pillars of Nosgoth (BO1)|Pillars of Nosgoth areas of Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain]], ''Legacy of Kain Soul Reaver'', ''Soul Reaver 2'' and ''Legacy of Kain: Defiance'' and could be revisited in all titles after its initial appearance. The Pillar could also briefly be seen in the Blood Omen 2 introduction and was featured in illustrations in comics. Constructed in the period Before Nosgoth's recorded history, the Pillar of States was known to have been served by an unnamed States Guardian in Nosgoth's early history before his death at the hands of Vorador at the Slaughter of the Circle. In the pre-Blood Omen era the Pillar of States was corrupted when Ariel was murdered by the Dark Entity. Upon finding her corpse, her lover - the Guardian of the Pillar of the Mind, Nupraptor - was driven mad by grief and unleashed a frenzy of mental energy, which drove all of his fellow Guardians insane and simultaneously corrupted their Pillars. The Pillar of States could be the seventh or eighth of the Pillars to be restored during Kain's initial quest. It was briefly returned to normal when Kain offered Anarcrothe's Scales to it, following Anarcrothe's death at Mortanius's hands and Kain's confrontations with Mortanius and the Dark Entiy. Shortly after the restoration of the other pillars, Kain chose to refuse the Sacrifice and triggered the Collapse of the Pillars. Now rotten to its core, the festering stump of the Pillar of States was all that remained, alongside its eight counterparts. Lasting in this state into the late Soul Reaver era the pillar would be visited by Raziel in pursuit of his vendetta against Kain and he too would return to gather advice from Ariel. As Raziel and Kain traveled through time in Soul Reaver 2 and Defiance they would encounter the pillar several more times in different states in different eras - pristine in Nosgoth's early history and the Pre-Blood Omen eras, corrupted in the Pre-Blood Omen and Blood Omen eras, and collapsed in the Blood Omen and Post-Blood Omen eras. Ultimately it was revealed that the Pillar of States - like its peers - was constructed by the Ancient Vampires to bind the banishment of their enemies, the Hylden race, into the Demon Realm. It was originally guarded by an Ancient Vampire - the original States Guardian - and its creation marked the close of the Vampire-Hylden war. Notes *In Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, the Pillar of States was decorated with a images of a wolf and a bat face (closely resembling the icons of Wolf Form and Bat Form) set against a grey-colored background. In Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, this was replaced with a simple dark grey-colored band. Further games have depicted the Pillar with a grey-colored band and the States symbol, introduced in Soul Reaver 2. Explaining the changes, series art director Daniel Cabuco commented: "The symbol designs themselves from Blood Omen 1 were pretty craptastic wallpapers. I don't believe they served the intention of making the pillars look serious and powerful. So we designed symbols, just like we did for the clans, the runes, and everything else that was important. There's not that much of a story other than all of us looking at each other as we went over the original designs and saying 'Seriously?! We can't move forward with these as originals.. no way!'" Pillars of Nosgoth areas at DCabDesign (by Bazielim), post #2 (by Daniel Cabuco) One instance of what may be an alternative symbol is seen in Soul Reaver 2's Light Forge. *Though it does appear in the Vorgeschichte, the Pillar of States cannot be seen in the ''Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver'' comic, where only the the Pillar of Balance is seen. The Pillar can presumably be seen in the ''Legacy of Kain: Defiance'' comic where its position appears vacant in larger illustrations, however smaller images of the Collapse of the Pillars appear to show a grey-banded pillar in a fallen position - though its symbol appears to be different. *Like its peers, the Pillar of States is seen underground in the Subterranean Pillars Chamber of Soul Reaver 2. Here it bears no identifying marks and only its position allows it to be pinpointed. Gallery BO1-Render-Pillar-States.png|Pillar of States (BO1) SR1-Pillars-Symbols-States.png|Pillar of States (SR1) SR2-Pillars-Symbols-States.png|Pillar of States (SR2) Defiance-Pillars-Symbols-States.png|Pillar of States (Defiance) BO2-Prologue-024.png|The States Pillar in BO2 (foreground second right) SR1-Intro-005.png|The States Pillar (second right) among others in the SR1 intro Texture-Mural-LightForge-PillarsRaised.png|A possible alternative States symbol, among others (SR2). File:Defiance-Fankit-Symbol-Pillars-States.png|The recurring symbol representing States (Defiance). File:Defiance-Texture-VampireCitadel-PillarSymbol-States.png|The recurring symbol representing States (Defiance). Comic_002.jpg|Vorgeschichte Defiance11GameStop.jpg|A probable States Pillar (fallen) in the Defiance comic Appearances * Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain * Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver * Soul Reaver 2 * Blood Omen 2 * Legacy of Kain: Defiance comic * Legacy of Kain: Defiance See also *Pillars of Nosgoth (BO1/''SR1/''SR2/''Sub/''DEF) *States *States Guardian (States Guardian (original)/Martyred States Guardian/Anarcrothe) *Anarcrothe's Scales *States Glyph *States fragment *States (Reaver enhancement) References Category:Glossary Category:Glossary: Blood Omen glossary Category:Glossary: Blood Omen 2 glossary Category:Glossary: Defiance glossary Category:Glossary: Soul Reaver glossary Category:Glossary: Soul Reaver 2 glossary Category:Navigation Category:Navigation/Blood Omen Category:Navigation: Blood Omen 2 Category:Navigation: Defiance Category:Navigation: Soul Reaver Category:Navigation: Soul Reaver 2